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A Response to ‘Women Against Feminism’

Blogging, in its highest form, is a conversation. Last week, I wrote a post expressing my own sadness and anger that I live in country which talks about freedom and equality… but too often does not walk that walk. A woman named Lisa clicked the ‘like’ button on my post. That led me to her blog, where I discovered this post that she had chosen to reblog.

We do not have to be white to understand the injustices suffered by people of color. We do not have to be female to understand the injustices suffered by women and girls. We do not have to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender to understand the injustices suffered by members of the queer community. We already possess the only attribute needed to understand each other’s challenges: we are all human. Once you and I understand the injustices we all face, the only thing left for us to do is to act humanely toward each other. It is no coincidence that all of the world’s faith traditions and moral codes share one most basic tenet: Treat others as you want to be treated. What could be simpler? Easier? Less controversial?

I share this post with you because it speaks to the importance of looking beyond ourselves. I am not a woman, but I am a feminist. What about you?

The year is 2014. You are a white Western woman. You wake up in the morning in a comfortably sized house or flat. You have a full or part-time job that enables you to pay your rent or mortgage. You have been to school and maybe even college or university as well. You can read and write and count. You own a car or have a driver’s licence. You have enough money in your own bank account to feed and clothe yourself. You have access to the Internet. You can vote. You have a boyfriend or girlfriend of your choosing, who you can also marry if you want to, and raise a family with. You walk down the street wearing whatever you feel like wearing. You can go to bars and clubs and sleep with whomever you want.

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12 comments

Yeah, I’ve seen the “I don’t need feminism” pictures too and they drive me nuts. Clearly, these women don’t realize just how much they still need feminism….yes, even these white American women. One day they’ll need contraceptives and won’t be able to get them…or they will be sexually assaulted and it’ll somehow be their fault…it will be a painful awakening for them.

Nicely stated. The three reasons she states, I think, are rooted in religious ideals. Most calls for inequality are rooted in ideas found in Bronze Age texts. However, gender differences should not equate to inequality. There’s a push in Sweden for a gender neutral pronoun, for example.

To my mind inequity is about awareness. We live our lives in routine, often unaware how deeply the repetition runs. When something breaks the flow we react. One needs to learn tolerance not to freak out and be educated to reason what to do. Given data that women are paid disproportionately we shouldn’t revert to stereotypes of breadwinners vs homemakers but reason equal work for equal pay; same-sex unions shouldn’t be a reflex to biblical passages but a reflection on what is the same.

Thanks S. You’re right of course, but don’t get me started on they misogyny known as ‘religion’. If women ever become globally dominant, a la the Amazons, men are in big, big trouble!

As for language: the Swedes know that our language can be a leading indicator of social change. I’ve even noticed something like this gender-neutral pronoun happening in American English. Or maybe I’m just giving way too much credit to bad grammar? It is common now in the social media to run into “their” being used as a genderless alternative to “his” or “her”. “Their” is a plural form of the possessive, not a third gender option. But that is what it’s becoming in the vernacular. Same with him/her and them.

As in, “If a cyclist blows a tire, it is nice to stop and help them.” The correct usage is “…and help him” or “…and help her”. The male pronoun has always been the default. Substituting the female pronoun can still carry a ‘politically correct’ awkwardness for many (most?). I like “s/he” for its efficiency. But the disconnect between a singular antecedent and a plural pronoun grates on my grammatical senses like nails on a chalkboard! Make it/them stop! 🙂

Keep us posted on what the Swedes come up with. Maybe it will be a solution that can translate to English. How do the Japanese handle this in their thinking and language?

Still, there are of course “masculine” and “feminine” speech patterns.

Here’s an idea for you, traditionally men work and women stay at home but it’s always women who control the money. The woman gets the mans salary and budgets him an allowance. This is still the norm. It makes me (silently) chuckle when my friends can’t go out without getting money from their wives.

Yes … but not all the points she raises are as straightforward as she makes them. Which probably means that feminism is even more important.
Personally, nothing is going to change in MY lifetime. It might just start in yours, Steve.
Yer a good man, mate.

SO much has already changed in both of our lifetimes, M-R. It’s just that we are properly impatient for this evolutionary process to continue. Our compatriots in 1814 or 1914 would not recognize much of our world in 2014… and likewise going forward, to 2114 or 2214. I’m not willing to hang around, though.